Remember
by genericusername0
Summary: 10 months after John went AWOL, Astrid and the others have not lost hope. When they finally find him a changed man and without his memories, the group, which has been slowly falling apart, become stronger in attempt to both regain John's memories and stop Jedikiah's mad plan. Jostrid fic.
1. Chapter 1

Astrid pulled on one perfect curl from her head as she bit her lip, a tell-tale sign she was anxious. The backpack she was wearing slowly slipped down and was adjusted accordingly. She pulled at the sleeves of the ratty jacket John had given her, trying to get warmer on her walk to the subway. A sigh escaped her when the object of her worry became the focus of her thoughts.

_John_. He had been gone for two whole weeks before they truly started to become concerned. Ten months had passed and he hadn't resurfaced or made any attempt at contact which wasn't like him at all. Just like every other time Astrid thoughts landed on John, the only reason she could conjure up was that John had left because he couldn't handle being human and being around all of the homo-superiors at the same time.

It was unfair. Why wouldn't he tell her before he left? Why wasn't she enough for him to stay? Astrid didn't think they were in love or anything but there were feelings and potential for such a good relationship.

Astrid shook of the train of thought before she got too deep into unnecessary hypotheticals. She readily arrived at the subway station without noticing. She made it underground and onto the train by thinking trivial thoughts. _Groceries, feed the cat when i get home, moms birthday, homework _were all looping in her mind.

A quick text was sent to Stephen so he would know to teleport her into the lair, no need to stop the train. After his prompt arrival, they smoothly made it to the underground hideout. His technique become more show-offy each time.

There were barely any people there, just Astrid, Cara, and Stephen. Everyone else was at the "Refuge" aka ultra's former base of operations. No one else knew John was missing except for them and Russell, so most investigations to find him were done here. Another part of the reason was probably because you had to struggle to find quiet topside nowadays. Russell was currently on babysitting duty making sure the green tomorrow people were not getting into any trouble, an idea that probably wasn't the smartest considering he was Russell.

"TIM, seen anything yet?" she inquired as she rushed to his system.

TIM had been going through live video footage of all of New York City for a match to John's face and most of the country for telekinetic signatures matching his- just in case. He was doing this while also looking for breakout nonstop, it must take a toll on his system. Cara doing her best to find him telepathically as well.

"Nothing yet. My apologies, Astrid." the program's posh accent dictated.

"You have nothing to apologize for TIM," she articulated carefully, trying to keep the dejected-ness out of her voice and failing. She gave a weak smile to no one.

Stephen, coming up from behind her, started to tried to give her another "never lose hope" speech before Cara interjected.

"We should just stop trying. He obviously does not care about us. This is a futile waste of time."

Cara had been cold before but this was a new level. She had been different ever since the day that the founder had been expelled by Stephen. Cara used to care more, but after that day she started to become a whole new person and bit by bit, one Astrid was sure she didn't like.

"Finding John is not a waste of time! There is no way he's forgotten us! There has to be something wrong. We must find him." Astrid was quick to rush to John's defense despite the doubts that had been plaguing her as well, " Tell her Stephen!"

"Huh?" he jumped out of a stupor. Astrid noticed how tired and out of it Stephen was all the time. His exhaustion was probably due to the work he was juggling- at school, being the co-head of the tomorrow people,training large groups of newly discovered homo-superiors, training Luca at home after his recent breakout, and so many other responsibilities that rested on his shoulders.

"Maybe you should rest." she suggesting, her face softening.

"Yeah, I think there are some leftover cots over there," Cara's face mirrored Astrid's. And when she saw him rise in protest, she argued:

"You really need the sleep."

He simply nodded his head, too tired for words and made his way over to the corner for a much needed nap. The only thing Astrid and Cara could agree on was Stephen's welfare, seeing as how he didn't have time to care for himself.

The two stubborn women glared at each other before stalking off to two separate sides of the room to do their own work. Astrid took out her homework while Cara trained her abilities on a doll that she was probably imagining Astrid's face on. Astrid was much less than envious of it. If Cara physically did not kill her, then her evil glare might. While Astrid admired who Cara used to be, she did not appreciate whatever alien replaced her.

The homework she was doing was light and easy because, although she hadn't gotten into the original art school because of the incident with Ultra, she did have a pleasant back-up school that was only ten minutes away from the hideout. But it was before she was even done, when TIM's monitor began to beep.

"John's been spotted!" TIM announced.

Astrid rushed over to the screen to see where the pin point had caught him. Cara grabbed her and they teleported to the locations before TIM even had the chance to say:

"In front of The Refuge"


	2. Chapter 2

Astrid found herself being swept away before she could even take a breathe. The feeling of being teleported was indescribable; it almost felt like you were falling forwards, and everything feels so fast and for a moment you aren't falling anymore you're floating. That's when your feet hit the ground and your breath catches because its hard to readjust to just standing. Astrid thought it was marvelous every time.

As she blinked, a whole new scene appeared in front of her- the courtyard in front of the eyes adjusted to the daylight after being in a dusty subway station. The first thing she noticed was that there seemed to be only one person. The second was that the person was John.

Relief filled was standing 30 feet away and for a good 40 seconds, they stood apart observing each looked the same as when he left, his hair in its usual perfect way and his face still the same obnoxious handsome. The only difference she could see was his outfit which was now comprised of a well-tailored three piece suit that _really _looked good on him. He stalked towards them, his stride confident and serious. All Astrid could do was stare surprised, but at that moment all she wanted to do was run and jump, arms wide and prepared for a hug.

But before she could, his eyes passed over her, and for the brief moment ,from the closer distance, that their eyes met, she could see no familiarity or emotion there. His gorgeous blue eyes that used to gleam and glow had lost their spark; they were cold almost icy and the worst part- they were empty. When he started to speak, his words flew like icicles into her heart:

"Cara, I need you."

John gave no mention to Astrid and didn't even take a second look at her. Her face crumpled at the quick dismissal, but she attempted to hide it. If he didn't care, why should she let him know that she did?

In a way, Astrid had been expecting this. Of course this would happen. Cara and John have been together for years, they had loved each other. She should've known she'd met almost nothing. They've only hung out three or four years- most of which consisted of near death experiences. Any kisses could simply be the result of adrenaline rushes causes by the thought of dying.

She was still so relieved he was okay.

"Excuse me?" was her brief reply.

It was a war of stony cruel stares. She couldn't tell who was behaving worse, but she was sure if the tension didn't diffuse, water particles in the air were sure to become little snowflakes.

"I'm sorry. Must I repeat myself?" he inquired although his tone was not sorry at all. He did seem sincerely confused.

"John!"

Whatever semblance of a calm demeanor Cara had tried to maintain, it was quickly slipping away. Her jaw clenched and unclenched. Astrid knew that however upset Cara was she was relieved as well. She looked more relaxed than she had in months. Her spine was less stiff; her breathing slower. She continued talking:

"How could you do this to us? We thought the worst had happened to you! You could've sent anything to let us know you hadn't gone and died! A postcard! Would that have been so hard!?"

"Excuse me?" Now it was his turn to be pissed. Though the reason why was unbeknownst to both Astrid and Cara. His actions began to mirror hers. They both had clenched fists and hard jaws, with stances waiting for a fight.

"You heard ME!" Cara was far gone now, all out yelling by the end of the short sentence.

"I don't even know you, nonetheless whatever you're talking about!"

"What!?" Astrid interjected for the first time, " What do you me you don't know her? John?"

He looked back towards her, and for a second she swore she saw something in his eyes change- maybe he'd recognized her. But when the look passed, she boiled it down to false hope, and she tried to wrap her mind around the fact that he did seem too different.

"I was sent here to recruit you, Cara. You are needed for the mission," he said.

" Mission? You aren't making any sense, John."

"John? I never told you my name," he commented on it's second use.

"I don't think he has his memory," Astrid noted, her eyes widening in realization.

"How do you know that?" he frowned.

"Because we were in it, your memory," she answered slowly, "Me and Cara were. We know you. You knew us."

"What?" shock colored his voice, "impossible."

"Please just come with us,"she pleaded, " you can explain your mission, and we can explain your- our- past."

Astrid knew they had to get somewhere comfortable to reach John and get him to believe them. Cara looked at her disapprovingly, obviously disagreeing.

" He is compromised. We don't even know what he's doing here, how can we trust him?" Cara said with no care that he could easily hear.

" We have to. He's still John, Cara."

Cara nodded her head in understanding. John seemed willing to go, too, and he said just that.

Before they knew it Cara, grabbed both their arms and swept them back to the ex-subway station, and Astrid could do nothing to stop the smile from reaching her face because John was finally coming home.


End file.
